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Upcoming articles: Compliance and Object Storage

I am writing two articles for Computer Weekly’s storage section, one on storage and data compliance for the enterprise, and the other on the growing field of high-performance object storage.

Data compliance

This piece will look at the top 5 UK compliance concerns in 2020.

What are the five key laws/regulations that must be adhered to by UK organisations in 2020, including both current and upcoming legislation. For each we will look at the implications of the law/reg for storage, backup, and archiving.

This could, for example, include legal search and e-discovery, or the Right to be Forgotten under GDPR.

We will also look at how the cloud fits in.

High performance object storage

Object storage has been known as a good way of storing lots of unstructured data, but with less emphasis on performance.

But AI and analytics workloads are prompting storage architects to look at performance too. The feature will cover:

  • Where object storage is heading in performance terms and what’s driving it.
  • Which performance metrics matter
  • How have object storage vendors improved performance?
  • Who are the key object storage vendors that are tackling the challenge of better performance and what do they offer?

The deadline for leads for both articles is Friday 20th March, please contact me by email if you can help.
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Upcoming commission: the environmental impact of tech

I am writing the following piece for a corporate audience – it will appear on the customer portal of a UK-based banking group.

While Big Tech can demonstrate high-profile efforts to promote sustainability, the true cost of the tech sector to the planet is thought to rival the aviation industry’s carbon footprint. With data centres and AI innovation guzzling energy at the present rate, it’s estimated that powering internet technologies creates 2% of global emissions. How and where in its activities is the sector most energy-hungry, and what steps can be taken to reduce its carbon footprint? Who is innovating in this area and how can their efforts be emulated by smaller companies?

Although we’re highlighting the environmental impacts of the tech sector, the piece will be geared towards potential and actual solutions rather than too much finger-pointing. The focus is larger SMEs and smaller corporates.

The deadline for written comment is 1700 London time on Monday 16th March. However if you would like to set up an interview please contact me as soon as possible, by email.

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Upcoming commission: computational storage

For Computer Weekly, I am investigating this emerging technology.

The piece will cover:

  • What is computational storage?
  • What is the architecture/key features of computational storage?
  • What use cases is it aimed at?
  • What are the pros and cons for those that might deploy it?
  • Who are the vendors and what products do they have?

I am looking for expert views – ideally independent — and real-world use cases or case studies. Deadline for leads: Wednesday 4th March, 1700 GMT. Drop me an emailif you can help.

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Upcoming article: Flash storage tiers

For Computer Weekly, I am writing a short piece looking at the various tiers of solid-state storage.

What is on the market, how does each technology’s performance differ, and what are their applications? Why do businesses use tiered storage, and where does each solid state technology fit into tiering?

I will cover these storage types:

  • Optane/3D Xpoint/Z-NAND
  • NVMe
  • TLC Flash
  • QLC Flash

If you have market research or other information to share on these, the deadline to contact me — as ever by email — is 1700hrs, Friday 14th February.

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Upcoming article: Latest government data breaches in 2019/2020

I am researching an analysis into security breaches in the public sector. We are looking especially at globally significant incidents.

In the piece, we will examine the trend – how did 2019 compare with 2017 and 2018?

Are there any notable changes in geography, or in the type of breach?

Which organisations are being attacked, and is that changing?

What size of incidents are we seeing? Are they larger, or having a greater impact?

The piece will then look at the cost of public sector data breaches, and their impact. And we will ask if there are specific steps public sector IT and security leads should be taking to protect their assets.

The piece will appear in The Daily Swig. This earlier piece in the series, on healthcare, is a guide for what we are looking for.

Submissions of content or suggestions for interviewees, by Thursday 6th February, by email in the first instance.

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Upcoming article: SME disaster recovery: Hyper-converged or the cloud

In this follow up piece for Computer Weekly, we’ll be looking more deeply at disaster recovery for the SME sector. The piece will cover:

• The key requirements for disaster recovery

o Why is it simpler than ever for SMEs to achieve effective DR

o What are the key choices (platforms, hardware and software)?

• Plus:

What are the key characteristics of disaster recovery using hyper-converged infrastructure? Who plays in the space and what doing they offer?

• What are the key attributes of the use of the cloud for DR?

• What are the pros and cons of each for SME customers?

For this piece I am open to input from analysts and systems integrators and consultants. We will also consider input from vendors, especially customer examples – but they must be SME, private sector projects.

The deadline for leads is Friday 18 October, 12 noon London time. Please contact me by by email, as ever.

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Upcoming article: can the cloud replace tape?

My next article for Computer Weekly will look at whether the cloud will finally see off tape, as the enterprise’s main backup medium.

For years analysts and vendors have predicted the demise of tape, but it lives on. Compared to disk-based backup, tape retains some advantages. And recent ransomware attacks have also caused organisations to look again at tape.

Could the cloud, though, finally see off tape backup? This article will examine the key cloud alternatives as organisations seek to move away from tape, and consider what they mean storage architecture. We will discuss:

  • Tiers of storage are there and how do they relate to each other
  • Difficulties in the (continued) use of tape
  • The key types of cloud products that can be seen as tape replacements
  • How do tape replacement cloud offerings fit with on-premises architectures?
  • Who are they key vendors of cloud tape replacement products and what do they offer

The deadline for submitting spokespeople’s names is 1700 London time, Wednesday 09th October. The deadline for submitting comment is 1700 London time, Monday 14th October. However please do not submit comments without contacting me first.

We welcome input from analysts, consultants and also senior end user IT architects, business continuity or archiving specialists.

Please contact me by by email in the first instance.

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Upcoming article: the top 5 storage deployment pitfalls

For Computer Weekly I am investigating the greatest pitfalls for deploying on-premises storage hardware.

The piece can cover flash storage, storage arrays, hyper-converged, or software-defined storage but it needs to be in house, not cloud based.

I am looking for examples from CIOs and IT directors and experienced analysts and consultants – but not vendors.

If you would like to comment for the article please email me with a brief description of your (or your client’s) credentials in this area, and I will reply with some questions.

The deadline for initial approaches is September 9th.

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Upcoming article: why it pays to think about data stewardship

Can organisations benefit from a proactive approach to data stewardship? And are there financial or other advantages to staying ahead of regulations and legislation, and ‘doing the right thing’?

I am looking for examples of organisations that have gone beyond tick box data security and privacy, and taken a best practice approach. What have they done beyond the basics, what has it cost, and what has it done to boost the business?

We are looking at policies but also practical approaches, such as checking users’ security settings, and promoting education and awareness. This really should showcase security at its best.

I am open to comments from vendors, consultants and end user organisations. For the reputation part of the story, I’d like to speak to PR professionals or lawyers with direct experience in the field.

My deadline for leads is 1700, Wednesday 21st August, by email. No calls please.

The piece will appear in The Daily Swig.

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Upcoming article: Who needs object storage?

This article, for Computer Weekly, will be an explainer on on-premises object storage. It will set out the key differences between object and block and file, and their pros and cons.

The article will ask:

  • What is object storage?
  • What are its key use cases?
  • What workloads need object storage?

The second half of the article will be a product section giving a vendor-by-vendor run-down on whether they provide hardware or software products, their architecture, scaling, speeds and feeds, data protection methods and other notable features.

There will also be a box out on cloud-based object storage.

Please submit background information such as white papers and case studies, product information, and suggested interviewees/experts, by 0900hrs Friday 19th July by by email in the first instance.

Please do not submit pre-written commentary or quotes.